Keystone XL Protest Update: Over 500 Arrested [Video]

Today marked the tenth day that protesters have gathered outside the White House to show their disapproval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

Despite the fact that the U.S. State Department approved the project days ago, saying that “the pipeline’s owner, TransCanada, had reduced the risks of an accident to an acceptable level,” today was also the largest day of arrests at the 14-day sit-in, with 140 other Americans headed to jail.

“If Obama chooses the dirty needle it will confirm that the President was just green-washing all along, like the other well-oiled coal-fired politicians, with no real intention of solving the addiction,” said NASA’s Dr. James Hansen, who was among those arrested at the White House this morning.

Although the State Department gave the Keystone XL its final seal of approval, President Obama must decide whether or not to grant a “presidential permit” for TransCanada, to begin construction on the pipeline, which will wind a 1,700 mile path from the Canadian tar sands to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico.

Best-selling evangelical author Jim Wallis, who recently served on President Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, also sent a message of support to the protesters:

“American Christians are demanding a new direction in America’s energy future — one that marks our turn away from oil and fossil fuels and toward cleaner and renewable energy sources,” wrote Wallis. “Developing the tar sands in Canada and building the Keystone XL pipeline through six states in the American Midwest is the wrong direction for our country and derails progress of building a responsible energy infrastructure.”

So how many accidents like BP's are there? One every 50 years - at the most.

There won't be another BP-like accident because they have put new procedures and equipment in place to ensure there won't be. Live and learn.

Besides, there wasn't any lasting damage caused by that spill even though it was the worst spill ever. And the damage caused at that time was minor compared to events like Japan's tsunami and the tsunami in SE Asia.

You want a perfect world, but there cannot be such perfection when mankind and natural forces are involved.

Either the new pipeline gets built, or they'll keep using the old pipelines with the real potential of major leaks. That's the reality of it, but environmentalists don't seem to live in the real world.

Maybe environmental wackos should get behind President Obama and support the pipeline on the condition the best materials and safeguards are used. You will be doing something positive for a change. President Obama is trying to do the best that can be done in spite of wackos on the left and right opposing him.

They maintained the old pipelines but some of them are just too old and cannot be kept up with, like an old car with 1 million miles on it, every few miles you go you'll have to stop and fix something. The new pipelines are just so far beyond that with all the new materials and computer controls and other technology they have now.

But it's OK, you have your religious beliefs (anti-pipeline and anti-oil sands people act like religious nuts) so there is no facts or evidence or anything that will make you question your position.

A lot of environmentalists are like the wackiest of the Evangelical Christians who will never never accept that evolution is a fact. The facts just don't matter to religious nuts.

Time is running out to plead with PRESIDENT OBAMA to stop the massive Keystone XL pipeline. The environmental consequences both immediate and potential are huge. Last week the state department approved the pipeline, so Obama needs as much push as possible to say "NO" to this 36-inch diameter pipeline! It's up to President OBAMA to stop this.

"The proposed pipeline threatens to pollute freshwater supplies in Americas agricultural heartland and grasslands with increased emissions in already-polluted communities of the Gulf Coast. The Keystone XL would cross Indian Country; States of Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas encompassing Indian-US treaty territories crossing water aquifers and rivers, grasslands, cultural sites and ecological sensitive areas. Leaks and spills are common occurrences from such pipelines that could result in disproportionate impact to Native Nations and thousands of tribal members. A spill from the Keystone XL poses an even greater threat, given that the pipeline would run directly through the Ogallala aquifer, which supplies one-third of our nations ground water used for irrigation, and drinking water to 2 million citizens."

Find a petition online through League of Conservation Voters or Credo or Sierra Club or here on Care2's petition link. This is too important to ignore. We need the President to prove he's on our side on this one especially!!! No time to waste -- let President Obama hear from you now --